Lateness
by Peeet
Summary: 2. The Doctor and his new assistant, Ommera, drop in on her home planet for a social visit. Scarifiers arrive to start mining the planet. The Doctor has less than an hour to stop them. Things don't go smoothly.
1. Shale Arrival

Episode 2. Lateness.

1 **Shale Arrival**.

A brief briefing session sees the Doctor fussing around trying to get everything perfect for an expectedly brief expedition to a cave.

His companion, Ommera, had wandered into the Tardis recently thinking it was a museum, but the Doctor hadn't been able to return her straight away; since then, he has entertained her, taking her to Cookerama Intergalactic to enhance her cooking skills (episode _Maintenance Mission_ in this series). Ommera enjoyed that outing and looks forwards to more outings. But the Doctor may need to correct this impression! It isn't all a walk in the park!

"I keep watch over many worlds and their inhabitants," the Doctor explains. "Much as I do for your home planet, Slint. Here on planet Shale I've temporarily placed some lifeforms who were about to lose their existence on their own planet due to a massive meteor collision. Their planet will recover in a while, but until then I found them a place to call _home_. Awful place for everyone else.

"These lifeforms need to live in a cave like this while they adapt to how their planet will be when I return them. They are totally scared of the light. They can't bear it. They must live in the dark, for now. We would actually have difficulty seeing them even in the light, so I built this detector to show where they are."

The Doctor waves the detector to indicate it. It looks like a small black sphere of 10cm diameter with knobs round the equator and thick poles at the top and bottom to hold it by.

"What do these creatures look like?" Ommera asks.  
"A sort of transparent starfish, but we won't be able to see them in the dark," the Doctor assures her.  
"Are these creatures a bit like the Daleks you told me about?" Ommera asks.  
"No," the Doctor says. "The Daleks do sometimes like the light. They only shroud themselves in metal for self-defence. No, these are more like fleeting shadows; but they aren't evil."  
"What do they eat?" Ommera asks.  
"They live off the rock minerals and, erm, a few other things," the Doctor replies. "We must just use very low light levels to see our way around, which reminds me… Let's check the kit."

The Doctor gleefully brandishes a few primitive head torches. "Infra-red lights," exclaims the Doctor as he throws them into the bag. "Head up displays." He puts these more carefully into his rucksack.

"Batteries?" Ommera asks.  
"All in, Ommera," the Doctor says cheerfully. "Weather ok for two hours. That should be quite long enough."  
"Wouldn't do to get wet?" Ommera jests.  
"No," the Doctor affirms. "We really don't want to get caught by the rain. Could be nasty."

Ommera thinks he is joking. "Grrr. What nasty weather," she claws at the air pretending to be nasty weather!

"We should miss the rain anyway," the Doctor says. "I'm looking forward to one of your feast dishes when we get back, I think the Tardis is enjoying learning from you how to cook better. Oh, and your palm touch should open the Tardis door, Ommera." This is a privilege, but he is unsure if Ommera will recognise it as such.

Ommera is pleased; she smiles. "Thank you," she says. She knows that it is so much better when you can get in when you arrive back at your base. She is just enjoying these small tokens of travelling.

She likes the Doctor. He had said that some time she could return to the same moment she left her home planet. This is a great comfort to her as she hopes to go back and resume her job, continuing with her friends where she left off. She has been attracted to travelling for a long while, but for safety, she had chosen a ground-based career in the space industry. What else do you do when you are upwardly mobile but on a fairly new planet colony which is dependent on interplanetary trade? The colony on her home planet, Slint, still feels like a colony to her sometimes – a bit raw, although it is several decades old.

"Oh, erm, look out for the reduced gravity here," the Doctor checks with her, "just walk slowly and you won't notice it much."

* * *

They set out walking from the Tardis on the short distance to the cave. Underfoot is a mixture of a sort of sand with small rough pumice spheres mixed in.  
The Doctor picks some up in his hand to show to his companion.

"This stuff only comes down when one particular sun is overhead," the Doctor says.  
"Solar rain?" Ommera asks.  
"Well, when that sun is close, its gravity causes the nearby volcano to emit these small particles," the Doctor says. "But these rough particles blow around the planet when the wind comes. We really don't want to get caught in the wind! The rain is bad enough. We call it _rain_, but it's only these coarse particles falling."

* * *

_They have the kit for going into the cave_. _What could possibly go wrong_?


	2. The Cave

2\. **The Cave**.

They arrive at the cave entrance and put on their head torches. These don't look like much in daylight.  
"Will we be able to see anything?" Ommera asks. "These lights look so weak."  
"Oh yes, of course we will," the Doctor reassures Ommera. "The Infra-Red doesn't show up at all to our eyes."

The Doctor passes across the head-up display. "Head-up display," the Doctor says. "Tiny cameras in the edges of the head-up display unit will capture all the images we need; however small the lights appear to be. We won't be long."  
With that the Doctor sets off boldly into the darkness of the cave recess, relying on his head set to see.  
Ommera, wearing a head set she'd thrown on whilst the Doctor was speaking, sets off after him. She feels rather rushed and hopes it isn't always like this with the Doctor.

The Doctor produces his odd detector device.

"Now; which way up? ... Hmm," the Doctor grapples.

It pings and a small white light appears on one side. The Doctor is holding the small detector at arm's length. Unfortunately, due to a design flaw, he can't see the small light from where he is standing.

"There's a light on this side," Ommera tells him.  
"Ah. In that direction!" the Doctor strides off in that direction.

* * *

They advance into the cave and, after a short way, it opens out giving more directions for them to choose.

"How will we know which way to go back?" Ommera asks.  
"Oh, what?" the Doctor fudges.  
"How will we know which way to go back? Ommera asks again.  
"Erm, we just remember it", the Doctor says.  
"Can you remember?" Ommera asks.  
"We won't be long," the Doctor reassures Ommera.

They continue into the cave and arrive at another more open area.

* * *

"Here we are." The sphere lights up all the way round showing that they have arrived and are surrounded by the creatures they are looking for.  
"Yes, they are all here," the Doctor says. "Let's see if they are all well and happy."

The Doctor presses a few buttons on the sphere and twiddles a few knobs.  
The top of the sphere turns green. He is satisfied.

"Can I touch one?" Ommera asks.  
"I doubt it will like it," the Doctor says. "It will move out of the way if it can. Be gentle."

Ommera reaches out to touch the cave wall.

"It's a bit slimy," Ommera says.  
"Wet cave walls are," the Doctor affirms.  
"Did I actually touch one, or did I just touch the cave wall?" Ommera asks.  
"What does it taste like?" the Doctor asks.  
"Yuk, I'm not putting anything from here in my mouth," Ommera declares.

The Doctor gently reaches for her hand and draws it to his face and licks her finger. "Yes, you did just touch one," he replies.  
"Yuk," Ommera says. "Did you just lick that yuk on my finger?"  
"Of course," the Doctor says. "It won't poison us."

_Who is this_? Ommera asks herself. She would never have licked anything from a damp cave wall! Yet his touch had been gentle and sincere; unrushed. He had time for her questions. She liked this. Where she worked, few had time for anything when a spaceship was ready for repair. And when there was relaxation time, they all seemed so self-centred. The Doctor was different. Yet sometimes he rushed.

They turn to go.  
"Was it this entry or that one?" the Doctor asks.

* * *

_How would you remember the way back? Especially in the dark! Will they be able to find their way back? What will happen next_?


	3. Trapped

3 **Trapped**.

The Doctor and Ommera are on planet Shale trapped by _rain_ in a cave not far from the Tardis. They can see the Tardis. So frustrating! They are sitting on the floor of the cave. The cave is fortunately large enough for them to sit without being in the _rain_.

The _rain_ is coming straight down. There is some white daylight from a near but dim star. Although the star is dim, it is much closer than you would want!

This was meant to be a day out for Ommera to see some of the many and varied things that the Doctor is doing for lots of different species on the many planets he cares for.  
But things started to go wrong when he forgot to plan their return journey in the cave. But the Doctor really doesn't want to admit this.

"Bother... Bother, bother, bother," the Doctor says. "I did see the Shale weather forecast was adverse."

His companion looks up from a study of the cave floor. Brightening up, and optimistic she retorts with a smile. "Never mind, this weather won't last forever," Ommera reassures him.

"For…ever," the Doctor muses. "True, but the forecast is for a couple of hours."

"What would happen if we just sprinted for it?" Ommera asks.

"We would be torn to shreds," the Doctor replies. "In the, erm, _rain_, as we call it, are lots of larger particles which will shred our clothing and then our skins… No, we can't just do that. We must wait for the rain to stop. I only intended to pop into this cave briefly to check all was well, but we became _distracted_."

"Lost," Ommera insists. They have been around this conversation a few times now.

"Um… Distracted," the Doctor tries to retrieve something of the day but is obviously irritated by the unplanned delay. "I never thought we would be as long as this when we arrived."

_What urgent events will __demand __the Doctor's attention when he __returns __to the Tardis_?

* * *

"You said that we should miss the rain," Ommera says.  
"Yes... Time has a habit of catching you out..." the Doctor says. He wants to divert attention from his earlier mistake of imagining that they would just remember the way out. "You don't have this problem on your home planet, Slint."

"True, but my planet is often threatened by Scarifiers," Ommera says.

The Doctor seems well aware of duties he feels towards various planets and species he seems to have adopted to protect. Ommera's home planet, Slint, is one of them. He often only just manages to persuade these Scarifiers to go and this has been more difficult recently. The Doctor doesn't want to alarm Ommera by telling her just how difficult it has become.

"There are so many places they might turn up," the Doctor says. "And where I'm not protecting, they just run amok. They do what they want when they want to anyone and any planet they want."  
"Does that include my home planet, Slint?" Ommera asks.  
"Yes, I'm afraid it does," the Doctor sighs, then tries to reassure his companion. "I visit frequently; but not frequently enough. They keep trying again. Even when I've tried to frighten them off."  
"Thank you for trying," Ommera says. She is unsure who is consoling who now. "What do you say to them to get them to go?"

The Doctor really doesn't want to answer Ommera's question. There are so many things he has said over many years just to defend her planet, Slint. To change the subject, he looks into his bag, presumably at some futuristic timepiece, but at least it could be telling him the weather. "Time for it to stop raining," the Doctor says hopefully. "The rain on Shale is very predictable."

The _rain_ has been coming down at a slant for a few minutes. It ends abruptly just as the white light of the Sun that causes the _rain_ to be sand and pumice starts to go out of view.

"The other Sun emits x-rays and blue light," the Doctor says. "Put the head set on to protect your eyes. Then we'll make a dash for it before that Sun comes up much."

They put their headsets on, grab their gear and prepare to run for the Tardis as darkness grows.  
The white light from the sun fades rapidly, but they have a minute before it goes completely black.  
They dash for the Tardis.

* * *

_Will there be problems on Ommera's home planet, Slint_?


	4. The Qualities of Lateness

4 **The Qualities of Lateness**.

The Doctor and his new companion, Ommera, are back in the Tardis sitting on chairs, discussing lateness.

"What can possibly go wrong if you are just a bit late?" Ommera asks. "You have a time machine."

"How soon will it be too late? You may never know," the Doctor says. "There is a phrase _Just in Time_. But often we might be looking at _Just too Late_. Will I arrive to find my defended planet in smithereens? Will I be actually - Just too Late? Or can I go back in time and correct for this? But then, if I have already seen the planet destroyed, we know it WILL happen. I can't observe it and then go back and stop it. There would be a time paradox."

The Doctor is explaining these thoughts to his companion, aware that she may not understand the significance of what he is saying. So, he brings the rather analytical thought train into the present for her.  
"If I went to your planet, Slint, and saw it exploding, I could do nothing to stop it," the Doctor says. Then more slowly he says, "although I did once freeze time on a planet and move the whole planet just before extinction; causing its attackers to obliterate themselves."

"Could you do that again?" Ommera asks.  
"Yes, possibly, but it took a rather long time preparing," the Doctor says doubtfully.  
"But this IS a time machine," Ommera says.

"True, but what if we materialise and see the planet destroyed before we have time to jump away?" the Doctor argues. He is testing Ommera to see if she can figure out how to overcome this.  
"That's a very short time frame," Ommera says.  
"True, but some of these undesirable, erm, contra-friends are more than able to detect my re-appearance in empty space; ... and wait for me," the Doctor says. He appears more excited about this.

"So… we re-materialise on the planet," Ommera concludes.  
The Doctor says this slowly, raising his approving index finger towards his companion. "Spot on!"  
She has solved the problem well.

Unsettled, Ommera asks, "can we go to Slint?"

* * *

_Although there aren't any alarms going off, this might not mean that __everything's OK__. The Doctor's alarm system may not be working, or the devastation may have been so great that the alarm wasn't raised before __the planet was obliterated__. What will they find_?


	5. Checking Slint

5 **Checking Slint**.

They materialise on the surface of Ommera's home planet, Slint. There is a pleasant park at the end of the road where Ommera lives where the Doctor has frequently chosen to park the Tardis on his visits there.

Sand and pumice granules are stacked high on top of the Tardis, left over from planet Shale.  
The Doctor clicks his fingers as they walk away from the Tardis along a wide lane, and the Tardis door closes automatically behind them. A small amount of sand and pumice is disturbed from the roof by the draft of the fast closing door.

"How do we find out if there is a problem?" Ommera asks.  
"The Tardis didn't show a problem here, or anywhere," the Doctor says, "but the Tardis has brought us here and now, so we must check it out. Let's ask someone."  
Ommera shows her excitement. "I know just who _**I**_ want to see."

They walk along the pleasant, tree lined road which is illuminated by a red sun. This is perfectly normal for this planet.  
Ommera is keen to meet up with friends again. They approach one of the many detached bungalows along the road; a green brick and roof, showing up as dark in the red sunlight, with a bright radiant red front door.

The Doctor's companion knocks using a large metal door knocker. The door reverberates as if it was cavernously metal, like a big ship's hull hit with a massive rubber hammer. (How can an ordinary looking door sound so?)

Another person like Ommera answers the door; a male friend with heavily rouged hair, wearing a full body suit. They must like body suits here.

Ommera and her friend embrace, greeting with a brief nose rub. (This is how people greet each other on Slint, it is quaint - Eskimos used to greet like this when it was colder.)

"How are things, Meran?" Ommera asks.  
Her friend, Meran, looks round furtively.  
"Come inside and keep your mouths shut," Meran answers. "Walls have ears."  
"That's new," Ommera whispers.

Inside Meran's hallway, the walls, ceiling and floor are boringly utilitarian, of a light peach colour. No light switches adorn the walls as they have voice activated lights. Two internal doors go off the hall, one is the living room (the other is probably a bedroom).

They go inside gradually during the next conversation. The Doctor is deep in thought.  
"Certainly is," the Doctor says. "Timescale?"  
"Weeks; months?" Meran appears unsure. Why is Meran unsure of this, the Doctor muses?

The Doctor is aware he could go back in time and question someone else to ascertain this small snippet of information but desists; he is however extremely curious as to why Meran expresses uncertainty about the timescale. "How do you know?" he asks.

They finally close the front door. The question remains unanswered as they cross the hall.  
The question could be about the timescale but is more likely to be about whether the walls are listening or not.

* * *

Meran's living room has a table and dining chairs (of a green stained local wood) ready to sit down on. The table is adjacent to a servery hole in the wall which just looks black. Like the hall, the walls, ceiling and floor are utilitarian and bland light peach in colour. There is a window in the far wall.

A large, signed painting (by Meran) is hanging on the distant wall. On the bottom of the painting there is a large caption which says, "Thank you from the bottom of my art." The picture depicts the view up the street to the Town Hall.

Meran puts his finger to his mouth to indicate that they should not talk for a moment and looks around furtively again. When he knows they understand he then relaxes and smiles broadly.

"Miss your cooking," Meran says brightly. "What can I offer you to eat? What would you like?"

Meran indicates a small screen device on the table. Ommera picks it up and looks at the menu on it.

"Low fat?" Ommera says disappointedly.  
"K. Two Low fat," Meran commands.

Meran reaches across to the servery hole in the wall and retrieves two dishes. He places them on the table. They contain something that looks like banana yoghurt, and a teaspoon to eat it with.

"It's a bit like Alexa," the Doctor says quietly.  
Meran leans forwards. "Precisely! Ears; everywhere," he whispers.

The Doctor doesn't comment on the fact that he has missed out on this meal. "Surely that's good?" the Doctor asks.  
"The meal is good," Ommera replies distractedly.

"Sometimes... If we talk about rain, it will rain," Meran says. Outside it starts raining. They can see this through the rather dirty window.  
"And if we talk about dry weather, it dries up," Meran continues. Outside the rain ceases.

"Wish we had that earlier on planet Shale," Ommera says with glum humour.

"Is it very expensive?" the Doctor asks.  
"Not at all," Meran says.

"Who runs it?" the Doctor asks. He tries to keep his questions sounding colloquial, but this seems really odd!

Meran raises his index finger again to his lips. He abruptly and suddenly changes the subject.

"Oh, the 'low fat' costs are very reasonable and it does taste good," Meran says. "I think that's locally sourced."  
"I think it tastes good, too," Ommera says.

This makes the Doctor feel that he is missing out even more. His tummy rumbles. "Oh, pardon me," he says.  
The others quietly do not notice. The Doctor feels they are ignoring his plight. What else could be going on here? "Are there any side effects?" the Doctor asks.  
Meran laughs almost hysterically and makes show of feeling his own right _side_ up and down with his hands. "No _side_ effects at all," Meran laughs.

* * *

Now, feeling rather fed up, the Doctor suspects that there is some significant side effect of the food. Both his companion and her friend are displaying almost complete disregard to how he might be feeling. He notices that Ommera has finished her portion when she replaces the teaspoon on the dish.  
"Mission accomplished," the Doctor announces. "Ready to leave?"

"Oh, erm, yes, ok," Ommera says. Leaving just now seems rather abrupt, but she recognises that she hasn't known the Doctor for any great length of time yet and doesn't really know much about him. What is she to make of this rather interesting character?

In the hallway, the Doctor strides for the door but pretends he can't open it as he isn't familiar with the door closing device. "What's this?" the Doctor asks.  
Meran arrives at the door and opens it. The Doctor pretends to miss the knack.  
"What was that?" the Doctor asks.  
Meran shows him.

"Oh, it's one of them!" the Doctor blags. He has seen one of these before, but why would this door lock model have been selected? It wasn't the cheapest, but not far off. But then it did fit in with the voice control that seemed to be everywhere else in the house.

Meran bids them farewell. "Have a good day," Meran says. "Hope to see you sometime soon."

* * *

The Doctor and Ommera walk back down the road towards the Tardis.  
"What went wrong there?" Ommera asks.  
"I will tell you in a moment," the Doctor says.  
Ommera doesn't like waiting for answers, but it seems she will have to get used to this with someone as complex as the Doctor.

* * *

_What could go wrong having so much kit that is voice controlled_? _Can the kit also be remotely controlled by someone _else? _What was happening with the food_? _Why were Ommera and Meran ignoring the Doctor_? _So many questions_!


	6. Deductions

6 **Deductions**.

In the Tardis the Doctor asks Ommera to sit down. He sits the wrong way on a chair almost facing her.

"There's something very different from how it was when you were last here," the Doctor says quietly, almost furtively, much as Meran had been.  
"Sure," Ommera says. "It seems much improved. Weather on tap, food on call, new door locks for all. Who wouldn't want it?"  
"I can't deny that all this is great for them, but I am uneasy; very uneasy about it," the Doctor says. "And, it doesn't cost them anything. How was the food?"  
"Very nice… Erm, I can't remember," Ommera owns.  
"You enjoyed it at the time," the Doctor says. "I'm wondering if there is some sort of brainwashing going on. You can't remember...?"

The Doctor stands up. "Compliance," the Doctor announces. "Some additive in the food makes everyone compliant."  
"Satisfaction. The weather to make you satisfied," Ommera stands up to mirror the Doctor.

"What are the automatic door locks doing then?" the Doctor asks.  
"Oh, I'm sure they're ok," Ommera hopes. Everything else seemed alright to her.  
"Are they?" the Doctor questions. A mysterious feeling surrounds them. There is something strange going on.  
"Should they not be?" Ommera wonders.

"IF... someone undesirable is behind this," the Doctor says quietly, "and IF they are awaiting my return, the locks _could_ come into effect when they want to strike a ransom with me on this planet; if that's their intention. Or they may just be trying to stop them trying to contact me." The Doctor is trying to think into the problem.

"Oh, suspicious again?" Ommera chides.  
"It may be nothing," the Doctor says. "Sorry I shouldn't think aloud. Particularly on this planet, now, with all that technology. It wouldn't surprise me if it is RAINING again." The Doctor raises his voice slightly when he says 'raining'.  
He turns to look at the monitor showing outside. Ommera mirrors him and looks at the monitor. It stays dry.  
"Dry. That's one good thing - the technology can't reach in here," the Doctor continues. He loses his furtive, quiet speaking.

The Doctor walks across to the door of the Tardis and opens it. He steps out of the Tardis and looks up. "It might be a big storm; thunder and lightning," he provokes loudly.  
The Doctor then steps back inside the Tardis just as the first heavy drops of torrential rain come down. "That will be rather expensive to sustain for long. How much will they spend?" the Doctor asks.

Only a few seconds later it turns bright again. "Oh, what happened there, I wonder?" the Doctor ponders.  
"Almost anyone could have asked for that," Ommera says. "It doesn't prove anything."  
"We need to find out where it is all being run from, and why," the Doctor says decisively.

* * *

The Doctor activates a few controls on the Tardis console and looks deeply into the screen.  
At first nothing appears, but then his face grows gloomy.

"Scarifiers? Hmm… The Bicx? Possibly. More likely," the Doctor continues.

Then his screen reveals a causation.  
The Doctor points to the screen.  
"Ah. Bicx. There they are. Just arriving," the Doctor says.

His companion is apparently unaware of any danger, or the food may have got to her. "They must be very small; to be there - under your finger?" Ommera jests.

The Doctor is amazed. "How can you joke when everyone on your planet is in such danger?" the Doctor says.  
Ommera is brought up with a jolt. "Oh. Sorry, what danger?" Ommera exclaims.  
"I don't know just yet," the Doctor says carefully and slowly. "We need to go where they least expect me: On board."  
"Where? On board where?" Ommera puzzles.  
"Their command ship," the Doctor says decisively.

His companion looks shocked at the danger and gasps.

"We must find out what they are planning," the Doctor continues.

Ommera is worried. She is wary of the Doctor's plan seeing it as audacious to go straight for the command ship, so is shocked. Yet she knows he is wise and that he sees what she hasn't. On the other hand, she has also eaten the food. Could it be affecting her judgement? Or is all that past?

* * *

_What are the Bicx planning_? _How will the Doctor react_? _Will they go to the Bicx command ship_? _Would you be scared_?

* * *

_Explanation: The Tardis didn't pick up a problem when they arrived because the Bicx had gone away after providing the technology to placate and distract the inhabitants. _(In episode _Maintenance Mission_ in this series, the Doctor had challenged the Bicx to treat the planet inhabitants better; this is their idea of how to get away with it.)_ They arrived back with their mining kit while the Doctor was on the planet_. _The Tardis was able to arrange this_.


	7. On the Command Ship

7 **On the Command Ship**.

The Doctor lands the Tardis on board the Bicx command ship as it approaches planet Slint.

"Now we are on board we can just pop back an hour or so in this spatial frame," the Doctor says. "Then I won't be quite as late."

The Doctor takes the Tardis back an hour on board the Bicx command ship, staying in their spaceframe. The Tardis complains, making a grating slow whir.

The Tardis is in one of the command ship's kitchens. There are stainless steel surfaces all around, just as an industrial kitchen of today would have. But, no dish washing equipment is visible. There is a small conveyor such as you might find in a posh Sushi bar, but slightly larger, able to take a larger diner plate. There is a mechanism to transfer plated food from automated microwave ovens to the conveyor. Each seat has a small touchscreen with a menu displayed.

The Doctor and Ommera step out of the Tardis. They notice a burly, absorbed Bicx chef mulling over one of his tasks for later that day. He is wearing a leather jacket and trousers as all Bicx do. He doesn't notice the Tardis arrive because he is listening to music on his futuristic headset - just a vertical earpiece with an emblazed red right facing chevron with a white 'B' overstruck – 'B' for Bicx. This icon occurs throughout the ship on each wall and door.

The chef carries on with his focussed task while the Doctor and Ommera leave the Tardis.

Ommera picks up a menu card from a shelf. "I wonder what they eat?" she asks quietly.

"Thank you," the Doctor whispers. "I'll hide the Tardis. Quick before he notices us." The Doctor hides his Tardis so the chef won't see it. The Tardis makes a quiet tweeting sound. As he puts the fob control in a pocket, the Doctor feels relieved that the chef didn't look up.  
Then they go out of the kitchen.

* * *

The corridors are grey and uninteresting here. The door to the kitchen has a small notice saying, "Staff Only".

Ommera is curious and opens a cupboard outside the kitchen. Finding two uniforms, she extracts them and finds they are different. She chooses the one that is identical to the chef and puts it on.  
"We should disguise ourselves," Ommera explains. "This looks like the uniform the chef was wearing." Ommera was only wearing a bodysuit, and the uniform will fit over it.  
"But what is this other uniform?" the Doctor asks. He has no choice and just has to put the other uniform on; he is much happier when he notices a label indicating it's a head chef uniform!

Unfortunately, the Doctor had to remove his outer garment to put on the uniform. The outer garment then needs to be stuffed into the locker. They forget that the Tardis fob is still in the pocket...

The two go down corridors and through doors that open automatically.  
The corridors beyond the doors change to a peach colour, more encouraging for staff.  
When someone comes, they hear them chatting as they approach, and they hide around a corner.

They identify a door they need to go through with a small notice saying, _Command Section_, but the door won't open for them.

"Let's wait around a corner," the Doctor suggests.

* * *

They wait until two crew members open it and go through it.  
Then the Doctor and Ommera quickly follow the crew members through the door, unnoticed.  
The two crew members are busily engaged in conversation and walk off down another corridor.

In the _Command _Section, the corridors are a light blue in colour.  
The Doctor and Ommera go down a further corridor but hear someone else coming, discussing something. Here there are no useful corners to hide around.

The Doctor grabs a blanket that was shrouding some equipment, folds it longways in a zigzag on the floor quickly.

"Lie down on this blanket under the equipment and listen," the Doctor whispers. "I'll do the talking if necessary."

Ommera passes the menu she has been holding to the Doctor to hold while she lies down. She is still partially visible from a low angle, but - no-one is going to bend to look down there!  
The Doctor looks round for somewhere to go, but there isn't anywhere else to hide.

* * *

The crew members are still around a corner but are getting closer. Their conversation becomes audible. "As inductee you must know the plan," the Crew instructor says. "We are in position to destroy this planet below. In under an hour we will start deep opencast mining and destroy it."

Ommera is very worried at this plan for her own home planet. Wouldn't you be?

"What benefit do we get?" asks the Crew inductee.  
"Minerals," the Crew instructor says.

The Doctor indicates to his companion to keep quiet. He still can't find anywhere to hide.  
"I have a plan," he whispers. He is holding the menu from the kitchen that his companion picked up earlier. He smiles.  
"I'll ask what they want to eat," the Doctor whispers.  
Ommera rolls her eyes. She doubts that will work.

* * *

The crew inductee and crew instructor come around the corner and spot the Doctor who is holding the menu.

The Doctor pretends to only just notice them.  
"Ah, what would you like for lunch?" the Doctor enquires.

"What business can you possibly have here?" the Crew instructor barks. "You are kitchen staff!"  
"I was hoping to ask what you would like for lunch," the Doctor gambles, looking at the menu. There is very little on the menu.  
"Low fat, thick cream, water?" the Doctor continues frantically. In desperation at the lack of choice he extends with a desperate smile, "Low fat brûlée?"

"You should not be intruding here," the Crew instructor barks. "Your contract ends here and now. You can't stay on this ship… You have to leave now. I'm sending you down to the planet below. We call it emplanetation."

The crew instructor taps a few buttons on a transporter gun and aims it at the Doctor.

"But he won't last long down there; less than an hour!" the Crew inductee protests.  
"Sorry, group policy: he must be put off the ship at the nearest planet, and that is nearest," the Crew instructor states.

With that, the crew instructor activates the transporter gun. The hapless Doctor disappears.

Ommera stifles a breath intake. What just happened to the Doctor? Was he really sent to the planet below? Is her own planet really doomed in the way those crew members described?

The two crew members walk on.  
"I'm not happy about that, he hasn't a chance," the Crew inductee claims.  
"That is definitely the correct procedure," the Crew instructor states. "I read it earlier. Protocol must be followed."

They continue along the corridor.

* * *

Ommera gets up when the crew have gone around the corner. She feels lost without the Doctor. She feels very vulnerable on board a hostile command spaceship.

"What do I do now?" she asks herself. "I've no idea how to do anything useful."  
Then she recalls what the Doctor said about the limitations of time travel. "Oh no, I'll see my planet destroyed and then nothing will bring it back."  
Then she remembers that she only has an hour.

* * *

_Will Ommera be able to do anything without the _Doctor? _What can the Doctor do on the planet without his Tardis_?_ Will Ommera be able to find the hidden Tardis_?


	8. Emplanetation surprise for the Doctor

8 **Emplanetation – Surprise for the Doctor**.

Ommera sobs for a bit. She is all alone on a hostile spaceship. She barely knows her way around. She would say that the Doctor was her only hope of escape. Her home planet is to be destroyed in under an hour and the Doctor was her only hope to be able to do anything. She is in a tight spot!

She has no idea what the Doctor was planning to do. She goes back down the corridor. The door that before hadn't opened for her or for the Doctor opens in this direction but remarks "you should not be unaccompanied on this side of the door" before opening.

Ommera arrives in the corridor outside the kitchen. She retrieves the Doctor's outer garments from the locker by the kitchen, deposits her uniform and goes into the kitchen. The chef is no longer there. She finds the Doctor's fob in the Doctor's pocket and unhides the Tardis.

The door of the Tardis opens to her touch, as the Doctor had said, and she goes inside gratefully.  
But, what can she do? Even if she had a plan, she has no idea how to fly the Tardis.

Ommera goes to the Tardis Control Console and tells the Tardis what's happened.  
"I've lost the Doctor," Ommera sobs. "He was sent to the planet by the crew. I've lost him and I don't know what to do."

The Tardis silently highlights the controls she must use to locate him. She presses the indicated buttons hesitantly.

* * *

The Doctor is sitting on a park bench, head in his hands. He has no Tardis with him, his outer garments are still in the Bicx spaceship along with all of his gadgets.

The Tardis lands, encompassing the distressed Doctor and the park bench.  
The park bench stays in the Tardis when they go! It becomes a feature in the Tardis.

"How did that happen?" the Doctor leaps up.  
Ommera beams. "I just told the Tardis you'd gone. The Tardis found you."

Ommera puts her arms round the Doctor and rubs noses with him.

"Wow," the Doctor says, "Erm, the Tardis doesn't do that automatically. How ever did you do that? Thank you. I'm afraid they're planning a rather more 'opencast' mining than I had feared. They're just going to take the whole planet. Inhabitants and all!"

Ommera is terribly worried by this.

They both break their embrace.

"What can we do?" Ommera asks desperately.  
"There's no time to lose," the Doctor says frantically. "I have only a fraction of an hour to equip with planet transport equipment, place it, and move the planet elsewhere. It's not possible."

"You have a time machine?" Ommera points out.

* * *

We see the Doctor and Ommera strolling through a retail park with three very large stores.  
The first massive store is labelled "Being" in white letters in a light blue oval on a white background.  
"The "Being" centre," the Doctor tells Ommera. "Anything from home furnishings to doors to biscuit boxes."  
Ommera likes the idea of setting up home. "I'd love to look around when we have time," she says.  
"Not just now, then?" the Doctor suggests smiling kindly.

* * *

The second massive store is labelled "Doing" in a bold red font on a yellow background.  
"Do It Yourself store," the Doctor says. "Build your own space craft…"  
"Who'd want that then?" Ommera asks.  
Behind the Doctor and Ommera some burly chaps in leathers go in (looking like bikers, but they wouldn't have been bikers in that era).

* * *

The third massive store is labelled "Planting World – Heavy Plant for All". They go in.  
They visit what looks like a garden centre with a large warehouse behind it hiding large equipment.

In the shop, above a display of spades there is a large _plant__ moving equipment_ sign with a massive down pointing chevron.  
"Doctor, what are we looking for?" Ommera asks.  
"I don't know," the Doctor says. "There's an entry around here somewhere, but finding it is supposed to be difficult. They don't want people to know it's here. It's secret."

They encounter encroaching plants in a dense and humid palm house.  
"I'm sure there was an entry somewhere around here," the Doctor says desperately.

* * *

_What can the Doctor achieve with only an hour to go_?_ Will he find what he wants_?


	9. A Moving Experience

9 **A Moving Experience**.

The Doctor is beginning to sweat when he finds what he is looking for. It is a hot house for the plants. They access the large warehouse through a concealed portal in the almost impenetrable palm house.

A _planet__ moving equipment_ sign with a large down pointing chevron (like the earlier signs) hangs above a section of equipment in the warehouse.

Large metallic rusty brown pumpkin shaped equipment can be seen in rows here.  
The Doctor immediately begins negotiating sale or return as it will be cheaper than hiring the equipment. He also wants to pay in cash. He returns to Ommera.

"I'm negotiating sale-or-return on the equipment," the Doctor tells Ommera. "They always expect you to hire it for years and charge a fortune; we can be back in half an hour... Time machine."

The Doctor beams and looks at a list he has made.

"Deployment vehicles; micro positioning; force shields..." the Doctor continues, "I hope I've got everything. Difficult enough to find this place once, let alone again!"

The Doctor places a small sparkly sticky tag on each item he is 'borrowing'. Then he waves a small memory stick size device.  
"When the Tardis dematerialises, this delivery stick will arrange to take all these things with it," the Doctor explains. "Come on."

* * *

The Tardis rematerializes in different positions around the planet, leaving equipment at each location that then adjusts its position to aim at the planet.

Each time the Doctor steps back in time by one minute.  
The Doctor shows off. At every stop he opens the Tardis door at the same time, and he appears smiling at the door looking out towards the planet.

* * *

After placing the equipment the Doctor is in the Tardis Control room. "I must give them a chance to retreat," the Doctor says. "I can't just let them carry on, and I can't just suddenly move the planet – they would just go home and come back later to see what had happened and find your planet still there – they would just have another go. No, I must challenge them."

**The Challenge**.

The Doctor opens a communication channel to the bridge of the Bicx command ship and is initially seen from the bridge of the ship sitting on a swivel chair facing away. He turns on the chair to face the communication camera.

"Oh, there you are," the Doctor says. "You seem to think you are holding the trump card? Poised to trash planet Slint for minerals? I'll give you a last chance to leave. You should know my reputation. Now, your response?"

The Bicx Commander laughs, "Why? We have spent loads getting this far. Space travel costs, you know."

"Did you ask the inhabitants first?" the Doctor asks.

"No! We don't need to!" the Commander laughs. "We improved the lives of the inhabitants as you suggested. And it didn't cost us anything – another planet gave all the tech to us in return for not mining their planet! We have done our bit making life better for the inhabitants, not that they will last long. So, we're not going to stop just now. You can do nothing."

"Final answer?" the Doctor must give them every reasonable opportunity to stop.

"The planet will disintegrate just now," the Commander announces.

The Doctor clicks off the communications channel.

* * *

On the Bicx Command Ship the Commander remarks to his second in command. "The Doctor is interfering. Let's activate now. Then he can't stop us. Activate."

The laconic command is given immediately. No messing around.

The activation is very obvious – on the main monitor on the Bicx command ship bridge bright streaming orange beams descend towards the planet surface.

* * *

_This is very rapid. Will the Doctor be ready_?


	10. Precise Quick Action

10 **Precise Quick Action**.

In the Tardis Control room, after terminating the communication channel, the Doctor is casually sitting facing Ommera. He is waiting for her to scream!  
Ommera is standing looking at the monitor screen on the Tardis. The Doctor isn't.  
The monitor screen shows the bright streaming orange beams descending to the planet surface, with the Bicx command ship in a picture-in-picture, bottom left.

Ommera screams.  
"I'll move the planet now," the Doctor says brightly. He casually presses a button on an unassuming box-like control.

The planet disappears, and the mining fleet ships destroy each other with their strong planet mining beams. The Bicx command ship disintegrates. It's all seen on the monitor without sound.

The Doctor still doesn't look across to see. "Textbook," the Doctor says quietly.

* * *

Ommera is amazed and so thankful. "Thank you," she says. "Wow. Thank you."

The Doctor rises. "Just in the timing," the Doctor says steadily.

Ommera steps across to the Doctor who is only two steps away and embraces him, and rubs noses, then hugs him. "You saved my whole planet," Ommera sobs.

"Haven't brought it back yet," the Doctor whispers. The Doctor is sometimes heartless.

Ommera looks alarmed and stops hugging him. She looks into the Doctor's eyes urgently. "You will, though, won't you?" she almost begs.

"Of course," the Doctor smiles. "Just not yet - until the smoke and debris clear. You don't want tons of space craft burning up in your atmosphere for days on end… No, it will all fly off into space without the gravitational pull of your planet for a while."

* * *

Actually, it will re-appear up to a solar year later, but then over a much longer time period than a few days. Some of it may last several years before coming down with a bump.

* * *

Later they are playing a game, _Vibratile_, (perhaps like Rummikub or Dominoes) on the floor of the Tardis. The Doctor is sitting on one of the plastic chairs. Ommera prefers the bench from Slint.

The tiles move when verbally instructed while they observe the player's eyes to know if it is that tile to move. The tiles change colour from white to a vibrant blue when they are looked at.

"I just love the way the tiles change colour when I look at them," Ommera giggles. "Pick up," she says.

A vibrant blue tile moves silently across the floor to where her tiles are standing on edge and flips itself onto its edge, turning white again along the way, then turns vibrant blue again as Ommera looks at it again.

"Probably time to restore the planet?" the Doctor says.  
Ommera gleefully jumps up. "Rather," she says enthusiastically.

"Oh, and , erm, remind me not to change my clothes when on a hostile spaceship because that nearly cost us dearly." The Doctor is still annoyed with himself about not having his Tardis summoner with him when he was emplaneted!

The game tiles all recognise that the game has ended and stack themselves neatly in the box.  
"There is an upgrade where the box puts itself away," the Doctor taunts the game.  
"We shouldn't complain," Ommera defends the game. "It is a beautiful set."

The Doctor picks up his planet moving control.  
The planet reappears in an instant at the touch of a button.  
"You have to know where to get this stuff from," the Doctor says coyly.  
"Like so many other things," Ommera retorts. "Let's go and share the experience."

The Doctor makes it look casual, but it had taken him a long time to find all that kit when he had looked it all out the first time.

* * *

_What else is there to do_?_ The planet has been saved and restored. What was it like for the inhabitants, though_?


	11. Restored

11 **Restored**.

The Doctor and Ommera are walking happily arm in arm along the same road on Slint towards Meran's house.

At the front door they knock and hear Meran knock back (the deep resonating booms are highly audible).

Meran's reply is only just audible through the thick door. "I can't open the door. Haven't been able to for hours. And the sun went out. It's been totally dark."

The Doctor retrieves his sonic screwdriver from his outer garment and opens the door. "I think we may have to open rather a lot of these doors today. There must be a command system I can emulate." But the sonic screwdriver has unlocked all the doors on the planet. "That's one of the issues with having externally controllable kit. A real security risk!"

A neighbour calls out to greet them. "That's a relief. Thought I was entombed for ever," he cries, before going back inside his house.

"Someone's going to need to supply replacement locks," Meran says hopefully.  
"Yes," the Doctor laughs. "Sorry I can't oblige."  
"You could program the sonic screwdriver to do it," Ommera is hopeful, too.  
The Doctor looks at the sonic screwdriver. "It will take time."  
"We seem to have time... We weren't too Late," Ommera says.  
No pressure, then!

Ommera embraces and greets her friend, rubbing noses.  
"It's a long story, but the Doctor, here, just saved the planet," Ommera says.  
She finds that she can't go on. Her stressful day saving her home planet and her friends is suddenly too much for her to continue to contemplate. Ommera hugs Meran and starts sobbing uncontrollably. She is so relieved to have her friend, and her home back.

* * *

A short while later Ommera has recovered her composure.  
"Will you stay for a meal?" Meran asks.  
"Love to," the Doctor beams. He sits down and crosses his legs showing intention to stay at least for a short while.

"Low fat?" the Doctor suggests. "Do you think it will brûlée?" he jests.  
Meran is more cautious. "Is it on the menu?"

THE END

* * *

_Information note: The previous episode in this series was called "Maintenance Mission" and it shows how the Doctor met Ommera_.

_The next episode in this series is called "Step Carefully"_.

* * *

The best episodes in this series are _Maintenance Mission_, _Double Master Plan_, _Daleks in the Tardis_, _Gallifrey Exhumed_ and _GoggleDoc_.


End file.
